Here's the front and back of the straw poll ticket, courtesy the Republican Party of Iowa. Much anticipated voting begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. on Aug. 13.

The Republican Party of Iowa’s straw poll is exactly a month away and the map of where voters can find their candidates is out, printed on the back of freshly-minted tickets.

The location of the most expensive piece of land at the event, purchased for $31,000 by Texas’s Ron Paul, is directly south of the Scheman Building.

That’s the slot Massachusetts’ Mitt Romney snagged in 2007 during an expensive and aggressive straw poll push that ended in a first-place victory. Romney has opted out of competing in the event this year.

The straw poll, a political spectacle that will draw thousands of Iowa GOP activists and serves as a first test of campaign strength, will be Saturday, Aug. 13 on property the party is renting from Iowa State University.

Six candidates opted to buy a tent spot at the event this year, which party rules say guarantees they will be listed on the straw poll ballot. Eight candidates crowded for space four years ago.

The location of a candidate’s tent improves a campaign’s prominence on the grounds and is considered a potential factor in attracting votes. The minimum bid at the land auction was $15,000.

Five other candidates purchased a plot of land this year. Georgia’s Herman Cain, Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann, Michigan’s Thaddeus McCotter and Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum are in row of four spots north of Hilton Coliseum and the Scheman building.

Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty is in the southeast corner.

Georgia’s Newt Gingrich, whose campaign is battling cash flow troubles, sent a representative to the June 23 land auction at the Republican Party of Iowa headquarters, but didn’t write a check.

And one other presidential hopeful from the list of better-known candidates is skipping the straw poll altogether: Utah’s Jon Huntsman, a relatively moderate Republican who supports civil unions for same-sex couples, a position at odds with a majority of likely caucusgoers here.

But Huntsman, Gingrich and others who won’t be allowed to give speeches on the straw poll stage could still wind up on the straw poll ballot. Republican state central committee members finalize the ballot at a meeting on July 23.

Republican party officials won’t have a ballpark estimate of how many Iowans are expected to attend this year until a meeting with the campaigns on Thursday.

Four years ago, just over 14,000 voted but attendance hit 30,000, party officials said. In 1999, when attendance was considered robust, 38,000 tickets were sold and about 24,000 people voted.

The straw poll is a pre-caucus drill – a demonstration of which campaigns are best able to mobilize their supporters.